1. Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates to water-dispersible polyurethane polymers as well as related methods and articles. The water-dispersible polyurethane polymer includes hydrophobic oligomeric polyether soft segments that include 1,2-di-substituted oxyethylene repeating units. The 1,2-di-substituted oxyethylene repeating units are derived from unsaturated fatty acid esters, such as from a distribution of vegetable oil fatty acid esters. The water-dispersible polyurethane polymer further includes hard segments common to other polyurethane dispersions compositions.
2. Brief Description of Related Technology
Polyurethane dispersions (PUDs) have emerged as very important class of binders for coatings due to their versatility, performance, and low volatile organic carbon (VOC) content. The conventional commercial PUDs are almost exclusively derived from petrochemical resources accounting for their high carbon foot-print, as well as their increasingly high cost.
Examples of PUD compositions may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,608,000, 6,287,698, 7,045,573, U.S. Publication Nos. 2005/0288431, and 2010/033075.